Writer, parodist, and magazine editor Roger Angell is most notable as an analyst of the philosophy and intricacies of professional baseball and its hidden meanings, what it reveals of the American psyche. Several of the titles of Angell's books, which are compilations of his baseball sketches, hint at his involvement with the metaphysical aspects of the game. These include The Summer Game (1972); Five Seasons (1977); Late Innings (1982); Season Ticket (1988); Baseball (1988); and Once More around the Park (1991). Born and bred in New York City, Angell received a B.A. from Harvard in 1942, spent four years in the U.S. Army Air Force, and became a writer for Curtis Publications in 1946. Angell was senior editor of Holiday travel magazine from 1947 to 1958. In 1948, Angell became an editor and general contributor to the New Yorker, quite appropriate as his connection to that magazine was almost congenital. His mother, Katharine...